After 21 match days, the second division is even more exciting than last season. This is partly due to Schalke 04. A comparison.

The second third of the 2025/26 season is coming to an end and the really exciting phase is about to begin. Who has what it takes to make it to the German top flight?

Up to this point, there have been many changes compared to last year. That’s why we’ve listed five notable changes compared to last year.

1. A single glance at Schalke 04’s position in the table makes it immediately clear that the Ruhr Valley club from Gelsenkirchen has improved enormously. At this time last year, they had only 24 points (14th place). Now, S04 is in second place with 41 points, and promotion is within reach.

2. The situation at 1.FC Magdeburg, on the other hand, is quite different. The club has lost a whopping twelve points, which is reflected in its current position in the table: 15th place, fighting against relegation. The departure of top scorer Martijn Kaars to FC St. Pauli last summer is also partly responsible for this slump in performance.

3. One team has probably made just as big a leap into the upper half of the table as S04 – SV Darmstadt 98. The Lilies secured the top spot on matchday 21 with 41 points. By comparison, last year’s promoted team, 1. FC Köln, had 40 points at this stage. Darmstadt, on the other hand, was in no man’s land in the 2. Bundesliga (twelfth place) at that point with 25 points. 4. In general, it can be said about the promotion race in the 2. Bundesliga that it is even more heated in the top third than it was last year. At that point, there were six points separating the league leaders 1. FC Köln and fifth-placed Fortuna Düsseldorf. This year, there are only three points between SV Darmstadt 98 and Hannover 96 (fifth place). In addition, alongside promoted teams Cologne and Hamburg, five other teams were in the top five at this point in time: 1. FC Kaiserslautern, 1. FC Magdeburg, and Fortuna Düsseldorf.

5. The relegation battle is extremely close. Arminia Bielefeld (eleventh place) and SpVgg Greuther Fürth (eighteenth place) are separated by just five points. Last year, Fürth were eleventh after 21 match days and had a twelve-point lead over bottom-of-the-table SSV Jahn Regensburg.